Foxes and Nim

{Isabella}

The first rays of dawn were creeping through the windows of the Alchemist's Tower. 

Isabella sat at her workbench, having been here all night. 

Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair was a tangled mess, and her hands trembled with exhaustion. But none of that mattered.

Because there, clutched in her fingers, was the fruit of her labors. The culmination of countless hours of research, experimentation, and sheer, stubborn determination!

The wand!

Isabella held it up to the light like a divine relic, marveling at its sleek, polished, black surface.

It was a thing of beauty. Elegant and refined, yet thrumming with untold potential.

[I did it,] she thought, a giddy laugh bubbling up from her throat. [I actually fucking did it!]

She ran her fingers along the length of the wand. Doing that made her heart race and her skin tingle.

[Hahahahaha, I... I did it.]